Freitag, Oktober 31, 2008

This terrible fact for a German aristocrat accustomed to old and rigid traditions was evident during the last silent soirée at the Schloss theatre when “Tell It to the Marines”, a film directed by Herr George W. Hill, was shown. This film is about military men and American war institutions.

The fact is that there are a lot of big differences between the German military establishment and the American one as can be seen in this silent film; differentiations that this Teutonic aristocrat is going to depict in order to make the old way of doing things clear.

The film tells of the adventures of private Robert “Skeet” Burns ( Herr William Haines ) a coarse, rude youngster who will join temporarily the Marines; during old aristocratic times, those long haired youngsters of humble origin were obviously not allowed in the German ministry of war. For such an important institution only lazy and idle Teutonic youths born with silver spoons in their mouths have this privilege…

This private “Skeet” is under the command of Sergeant O’Hara ( Herr Lon Chaney ) and besides their interest in American war games, they both love nurse Norma Dale ( Dame Eleanor Boardman ), leading to adventures in war and love throughout the film.

Well, it hardly needs to be said that high-ranking Prussian officers never mixed with ordinary soldiers or had to teach them discipline; overall discipline is standard German equipment. And of course Teutonic aristocratic fräuleins never worked; they were always very busy chattering in the Berlin manner in their rococo salons while sipping tea and for some of them even this necessary business required a great effort.

So, there is no trace in the film of moustachioed Prussian warriors wearing those colourful uniforms adorned with numerous medals together with a fancy and sharp-pointed helmet. There is no sign too of light cavalry ready to attack while the high-ranking military Prussians observe such thrilling scenes sheltered on the top a of a high mountain. Even though “Tell It to the Marines” depicts the modern and ordinary procedures of the American army and displays nothing in common with the classic art of war, (that useless pastime of which aristocrats are so fond), the film is very entertaining and interesting.

“Tell It To The Marines” was Herr Lon Chaney’s favourite film; the great American actor portrayed during his superb and long career many deformed, wicked and freak characters but finally he preferred the freakiest of all: a US Marine sergeant.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must present arms to his Teutonic heiresses.

Freitag, Oktober 24, 2008

It is always a pleasure and a joy for silent film fans ( German aristocrats experience those primal human feelings everyday; coarse people from time to time ) to know that in spite many various 20thcentury misfortunes such as inclement weather, the inexorable passage of time, long haired carelessness and the Azores trio, finally and miraculously some silent nitrates emerge from oblivion hidden in lost vaults.

The last year one of those old nitrates was found in France, an almost intact copy ( lacking reel 3 ) of “Bardelys The Magnificent” (1926) directed by Herr King Vidor. The film was superbly restored, fulfilling the missing scenes with stills, providing a great opportunity to almost complete the silent film career of such an important American director, who filmed many silent masterpieces.

“Bardelys The Magnificent” it is not a masterpiece but a very entertaining film, starring John Gilbert and Dame Eleanor Boardman. It tells the story of Herr Bardelys ( John Gilbert ), a ladies’ man, irresistible to women and admired by men but Bardelys will have to fight against his evil rival, Chatellerault ( Herr Roy D’Arcy ) for the love of Dame Roxalanne ( Eleanor Boardman ) in a story set in the decadent French court and surroundings.

“Bardelys The Magnificent” is an impeccable work, careful in details but light in the story; it is not exactly a swashbuckler film although it includes some acrobatics and action scenes and there is a scaffold scene filmed from an impossible angle but this is really more of a romantic drama, not surprising given the presence of Herr John Gilbert, the ladies’ man par excellence during the 20’s in many American movies.

Herr Gilbert plays convincingly his character, an ironic, cynical seducer; at the beginning of the film Bardelys is depicted in a satiric vein as a French dandy but he will suffer many hardships to win Dame Roxalanne heart ( Dame Boardman is charmingly and beautifully photographed by Herr William H. Daniels-obviously, given the fact that she was the director’s wife…

As this German count pointed out, Bardelys' only purpose is to win Roxalanne and that’s what really matters most to Herr Vidor, so consequently the adventures and suffering of our hero are focused on that unrequited love or paradigm of the art of wooing, displayed superbly in a romantic, splendid and famous boat scene ( it was until last year the only surviving scene of “Bardelys The Magnificent” because it was shown in Herr Vidor’s “Show People” (1928) ), artfully filmed by Herr Vidor and itself an excellent reason to watch the film.

“Bardelys The Magnificent” is a charming oeuvre, a light piece of work by Herr Vidor, skilfully directed and with the sole purpose of entertaining. Given that the film includes some action, old France and its decadent court and a romantic and classical love story starring two lovely actors, isn’t that more than enough?.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must attend a magnificent supper.

Samstag, Oktober 18, 2008

The second chance for this Gernan count to watch a Herr Svatopluk Innemann comedy was much more satisfactory than the previous one, “Lásky Kacenky Strnadové” (1926), an uneven, confusing and erratic work in its film narrative as this German count mentioned before. It has nothing in common with “Falesná Kocicka” (1926) ( The Fake Sweetheart ), a solid silent comedy that this time uses the resources of that film genre perfectly and accordingly results in a very interesting oeuvre.

The film depicts the troubles of Herr Verner ( Herr Karel Hasler ), a middle-aged bachelor dentist who wants to marry but the chosen one must be, overall an old fashioned girl, a fundamental condition that for Herr Verner that proves difficult, because during the 20’s, girls liberated themselves assuming shocking new attitudes such dancing, smoking, even forgoing their corsets and shortening their skirts. For those reasons Herr Verner will fail in his quest to find a girl he can marry and then educate to meet his standards.

Dame Milca ( Dame Zdena Kavková ) is one of those modern girls who will meet Herr Verner at a party given in her home. Herr Verner shows contempt for one of Dame Milca's female guests for her use of slang and lack of manners so in order to teach him a lesson, Dame Milca pretends to be one of those slum bred girls who needs desperately to be educated by Herr Verner.

There is also a sub plot about the town drunkard, Herr Vendelín ( Herr Vlasta Burian ) who pines for an old love, whom by chance and due to the fact that it’s a small world, turns out to be Herr Verner’s maid, Dame Amalia ( Dame Antonie Nedosinská ) . Herr Vendelín accidentally meets Dame Milca at the train station, giving our heroine the idea to pass off Herr Vendelin as her father to add believability to her scheme.

This Czech version of Pygmalion is a very entertaining and funny film, skilfully directed by Herr Innemann ( he has a minor role too in the film as a professor ) in which the crossed lives of both couples and their different social positions result in some hilarious situations. These interesting social dimensions are well illustrated by the pretentious doctor who must face down to earth girls if he wants to marry and bourgeois girls who have to deal with a ragamuffin, and how the high and low classes form a temporary alliance forgetting their differences in order to work out their schemes.

The film narrative is precise, effective and dynamic, including elaborate situations and gags most of them starring poor chap Vendelín ( an inspired actor this time, Herr Burian puts aside exaggerated pantomime and overacting ) resulting in a witty satire.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must take the chair in a meeting at the Teutonic Ministry of Education.

Samstag, Oktober 11, 2008

It is a customary habit among neighbours to ignore each other in order to avoid conflicts or even worse, any kind of familiarity; for this reason it is not strange that this German count didn’t know anything about the early Czech silent film director, Herr Svatopluk Innemann.

Herr Svatopluk Innemann family was involved with the cinema from its beginnings, because Herr Innemann’s father, Herr Rudolf Innemann (1861 – 1907) was a pioneer film director and an actor in those early days and Herr Svatopluk’s older brother, MiroslavInnemann (1894 – 1953) worked also in the cinema, first as a projectionist and then as a cinema manager and later an actor in episodic roles. Acting was also part of Herr Innemann’s wife Zdena Kavková’s life (1896 – 1965); she played in a few of her husband’s movies. Certainly making movies for the Innemann family was a natural thing and for that reason it wasn’t strange that Herr Svatopluk Innemann become interested in this modern art and had a career as a director in both silent and sound films. “Lásky Kacenky Strnadové” ( The Loves Of Kacenka Strnadova ) (1926) is one of his most representative comedies made during the 20’s.

The film depicts the adventures of Dame Kacenka ( Zdena Kavková ) und Herr Vincek ( Vlasta Burian ), two innocent country bumpkins who live in a Czech small town, and the various jobs that Dame Kacenka has once she moves to Prague, that beautiful capital city ( how dare you, Herr Innemann, not to include a single shot or glimpse of the Prague castle, the Charles bridge or the decadent Tyn towers??!! ) . Our heroine will have to bear difficult working conditions and to make things worse, she falls in love with a fake aristocrat ( genuine European aristocrats are in short supply… ). Fortunately her companion, Vincek who is also in Prague, has an unrequited love for her. Though he is the cause of many Kacenka's problems, Vincek finally will help and resolve her loves troubles. And of course there is a happy ending that brings the Czech couple together.

“Lásky Kacenky Strnadové” is a very simple silent comedy that uses and abuses classic and well-know film comedic bits of business: “he loves me, she loves me not”, funny gags involving misunderstandings, exaggerated mime and the usual bewilderment of country people in a big city. The film stars Dame Zdena Kavková and Vlasta Burian who worked together with Herr Innemann in three more films all based on novels by Herr Josef Skruzny.

Herr Innemann 's film narrative is uneven: characters appear and disappear throughout the film without explanation; there is much switching back and forth between Prague and the small town and from Dame Kacenka's love life to her jobs. Only at the end of the film does the narrative become more coherent.

In spite of such flaws “Lásky Kacenky Strnadové” is an interesting work that allows one to discover an unknown European silent director with a peculiar style. In fact, the next Schloss silent show will be another Herr Innemann’s 20’s film comedy; it will be a good chance to check if the Czech developed more original film narrative resources or if falling back on comic clichés is customary in his silent comedies.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must receive the Golem of Prague.

Samstag, Oktober 04, 2008

In the mid 10’s of the last century, big budget film productions were fashionable, and usually depicted historical events or popular dramas.

Italians had silent “kolossal” movies with an emphasis on historical realism, especially in terms of superb art direction. The Italian extravaganzas were enormously influential but directors in different countries made epics in their own peculiar way and style.

For this reason, Germans couldn’t sit back and do nothing and allow themselves to be beaten so pretty soon historical “kostume” films were invented, “Madame DuBarry” (1919), being an excellent example of that early Teutonic film genre whose director, Herr Ernst Lubitsch achieved international success because of this and similar epics. Herr Lulbitsch's work here is shining but one can hardly overlook the main actors, Dame Pola Negri und Herr Jannings. “Madame DuBarry” was the first post-war German film sold in the United States though sometimes the Amerikans cut the tragic end of the film probably due to their audiences not understanding those special and sharp European habits…

“Madame DuBarry” tells of the rise and fall of the favourite mistress of Louis XV of France. She is played as a sensual libertine by Dame Pola Negri while the king is a wonderful (though overacting, as usual) Herr Emil Jannings.

Dame DuBarry is a carefree girl, with plenty of “joie de vivre”, who toys and uses men for but remains foolishly innocent about what's she doing. Ultimately, she will lose her head, literally, for the king.

Obviously a “kostume” film must have superb décors and great art direction and, since the story involves the French revolution, there must also be feverish, ragged crowds, here played accordingly in those early Weimar times, by impoverished extras who would soon forsake demonstrating in a fictional Paris for doing the real thing on the Berlin streets. Herr Lubitsch trivializes the historical events, giving more importance to sensuality and he has an irreverent and satirical point of view; With Dame Negri's villainous presence on the silent screen, who cares about the French revolution??..., that’s a trifling matter in comparison with Dame Pola’s eyes!

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must avoid losing his head over a naughty rich Teutonic heiress.